Company Seeks New Trial of Dish Network Telemarketing Lawsuit

After a jury trial found Dish Network liable for $20.5 million in a verdict issued in January in North Carolina federal court, the company has asked the court for a new trial, saying that the court committed a number of errors in the previous lawsuit.

In its request for a new trial, the company says that in the previous treatment of the Dish Network telemarketing lawsuit was flawed because it violated due process rights, allowed prejudicial evidence, and neglected to ask a question from the verdict sheet, among other alleged errors.

In its motion to request a new trial, Dish says that having the opportunity to start over with a new Dish Network telemarketing lawsuit is needed because “the verdict is against the weight of the evidence” and that “numerous prejudicial errors at trial” were made.

Named plaintiff Thomas Krakauer initially filed the Dish Network telemarketing lawsuit in 2014, alleging that Satellite Systems Network, an authorized dealer of Dish Network products, called him repeatedly during 2009 through 2011 even though his phone number is listed on the national Do Not Call Registry.

At the completion of the five-day jury trial, the jury in the Dish Network class action lawsuit awarded $20.5 million in damages to the plaintiffs due to violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The award amount was determined by issuing a $400 per violation each of the 51,119 calls made during relevant class period.

Dish Network takes issue with the calculation of the jury award, saying that District Judge Catherine Eagles violated its due process rights by letting the jury impose aggregate damages for each of the individual calls, instead of allowing Dish to defend each claim separately.

Dish also says that Judge Eagles allowed the prosecution to have more say in the use of their witnesses and limited the use of Dish’s experts in the trial.

Dish says in its motion for a new trial that Judge Eagles allowed the jury to hear of references that Satellite Systems Network was the target of previous allegations of TCPA violations in 2004 to 2005. Apparently, Judge Eagles told the jury to take the evidence lightly, but Dish argued that Krakower “made the 2004-2005 time period the center of his case.”

Additionally, Dish said that Judge Eagles allowed the prosecution to reference an agreement between Dish and 46 attorneys general that the satellite provider had agreed to a $6 million settlement to resolve claims of alleged TCPA violations. The motion also stated that Judge Eagles allowed the plaintiff to tell the jury that the “reason Dish must have had [to settle] with 46 states’ attorneys general is because there were widespread problems with telemarketing.”

Alongside the other issues it raises in its request for a new trial over the Dish Network telemarketing lawsuit, the defendant states that the jury “had to have been confused and misinformed to reach the verdict it did.”

The plaintiff is represented by Brian Glasser, Matthew McCue, Matthew Norris, Ryan Donovan, John Roddy and John Barrett of Bailey & Glasser LLP and Edward A. Broderick and Anthony Paronich of Broderick and Paronich.

The Dish Network Telemarketing Lawsuit is Case No. 1:14-cv-00333, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina.

UPDATE: November 2017, the Dish Network Do Not Call Registry class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim.

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